


Holding Hands with Ray

by EnmaFire



Series: 30 Day Challenge [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Fluff, Gen, Gender-neutral Reader, Holding Hands, Not gender specific, Reader-Insert, Sorry Not Sorry, You are a Rooster Teeth employee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 14:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2551694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnmaFire/pseuds/EnmaFire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're having a tough day at the office, but some time with Ray might just help that out.</p><p> </p><p>First work in the RT fandom and first Reader-Insert, so reviews are greatly appreciated!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding Hands with Ray

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This is the first part of a little something I'm trying out, using the standard '30 Day OTP Challenge' prompt list. All stories will be Reader/Various AH member.
> 
> This is my first time writing something like this, so please don't be afraid to mention any improvements you may think of!

To say today had been going rough would be an understatement. You had already managed to sleep through your alarm, miss breakfast, and show up late to work, which in turn severely set back your plans for the day. Now it was nearing your lunch hour, and you had barely managed to make a dent in your workload.

From the other side of the building could be heard various screams and cries of both laughter and frustration, coming from what could only be the Achievement Hunter office. After working with Rooster Teeth for over a year, you could recognize to sounds of a _Let’s Play_ in progress. You shot a look over to Lindsey from over your monitor, and only received a half-hearted shrug in response.

With a huff of frustration, you forced yourself to focus back in on the task at hand. Under normal circumstances, it was easy to block out the muffled noises that came from the AH crew, but with your mood already sour from your troubled morning and your head starting to spin from staring so long at your monitor without a break, you began to silently wish for them to finish up sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, this did not seem to be one of their rare thirty minute recording sessions, and as the time passed it became harder and harder for you to concentrate on the  
computer screen in front of you.

Lindsey eventually noticed your frustration and silently offered her headphones to you, seeing as yours were sitting on your desk at home, and you gratefully accepted with a promise of buying her coffee tomorrow. Slipping the headset over your ears, you let the soundtrack of your favorite game pour through the speakers and drown out the rest of the world. You felt your shoulders relax as you breathed out a sigh of relief before diving back into your work.

You zoned back in on the RT Life video you were currently supposed to be editing. Most of the content was pretty funny, but there were a lot of lulls between the high points, making it a pain to cut out the boring bits without it all seeming like some messy little home video. However, what should have been a simple task for you was slowly turning into a royal pain. Annoyed at your lack of progress, you turned up the volume of your music and continued on.

You were so focused you never realized the album you were listening to had already repeated twice.

You were vaguely aware of the passing of time around you, stuck in your personal bubble of work. At one point you remember being tapped on the shoulder by someone, but rather than surface from the trance you had fallen in to, you simply waved off whoever it was with a carless hand and a mumbled, “Sorry, really busy right now.” Your coworkers moved around you, streaks of color on the edges of your vision, forced into silence by the headphones snug against your ears.

Lindsey was the one to finally bring you back to the real world, pulling the headphones off of you and swiveling your chair around to face away from your desktop. “It’s time for lunch, you little workaholic,” she said with a laugh, grabbing your hands to pull your up from your seat.

“I’ll grab something later,” you replied, removing yourself from her grip. “I have a lot left to do, and if I don’t get it over with now I’ll never finish on time.”

Lindsey bent forwards, leaving herself at eye level with you. “You’ve been working non-stop since you got here this morning. Just because you were a few minutes late doesn’t mean you’re gonna fall that far behind.”

“Lindsey,” you sighed, pushing your chair back with your feet to put some distance between the two of you, “I have to do this, okay? Two of these videos go up tomorrow, and I haven’t even started on the second one! I don’t have time to go out to eat.” With that, you turned yourself back around and began working again; hoping Lindsey would get the hint and go off without you.

You heard your coworker mumble something about a ‘stubborn child’ before her footsteps followed her out of the room. You placed the headphones back over your ears.

At some point you vaguely recognized Lindsey coming back to her desk, but after how long you could not say.

The RT Life video was finally ready to be finalized and you were just beginning to make a dent in your second task when something managed to interrupt you. Muffled voices were shouting from presumably the other side of the room, loud enough to still be heard over the blaring of your music. You felt your shoulders tense but refused to turn around, staying determinedly attached to your desk.

  
The voices were only getting louder, and you were dismayed to find your volume already at its max, making it impossible to drown them out.

Someone ripped the headphones off of you and spun you around alarmingly fast, making your vision blur as you cried out in surprise. Before you could orientate yourself, a microphone was shoved in your face.

“Team Lads Action News Team,” cried Michael, his hand wrapped firmly around the base of the microphone.

You glared up at him before switching your attention to the camera Gavin currently had trained on you. Ray stood beside him, smiling widely down at you.

“I do not have time for this,” you told him, rubbing a hand over your face.

“Everyone has time for Team Lads Action News,” laughed Gavin.

You gave a groan and tried to turn your chair back around, but Ray stopped you with an arm braced against the back of it. “Guys, seriously, stop it,” you said, feeling your frustration boiling.

“No can do, ma’am,” replied Michael, trying his hardest to keep his voice serious despite the shit-eating grin on his face, “the people need to know the truth!”

You threw your hands up in exasperation. “I swear, if you guys don’t get out of here within the next five seconds,” you all but growled, trailing off to leave the threat open.

“What’s with all the hate,” asked Ray, leaning over you. “Got something to hide?”

“I bet she’s got a secret or something,” cried Gavin, eager to join in with Ray’s fun.

“Is that true,” questioned Michael, pushing the microphone closer to you. “You hidin’ something? You got a sneaky little secret you’re keeping from us?”

Michael kept talking, but by that point you were done listening. The three lads continued to crowd closer in on you, and the way they kept yelling like idiots despite being less than a foot away from you was making your head pound. Ray and Gavin had joined in, the trio shouting question after question, not even giving you time to answer.

The last straw was when that damned microphone was shoved practically into your nose. With a frustrated groan, you slapped Michael’s hand away and sprung out of your chair, forcing them to back up. “ _God fucking dammit_ ,” you yelled, hands curled up at your sides, “ _just shut the fuck up and leave me the hell alone!_ ”

Whatever jokes the lads had been thinking of making died instantly on their tongues as a hush fell over the room. You, however, had no interest in everyone’s reactions, storming out the door to find a place of solitude.

That place just so happened to be the kitchen; with lunch hour long since past, the place was deserted, leaving you to fume in silence. Huffing out a noise of frustration, you set about making yourself a nice cup of coffee to help steel your nerves. As the coffee machine whirred to life, you leaned the small of your back up against the counter, fingers massaging your temples in a desperate attempt to ward off your oncoming stress-headache.

For a while, the only sounds were your breathing and the steady hum of the coffee machine.

Footsteps echoed faintly in the hallway, growing closer to your with every step. You kept your eyes shut, one hand pressed against your face and the other gripping the edge of the counter. You could feel someone standing in the kitchen doorway, their eyes taking in your hunched form. They called your name out softly, daring to venture deeper into the room.

“Not now, Ray,” you mumbled, still refusing to look at him. “I just need a quiet minute or two so I can cool off.”

“That’s cool,” answered Ray, “we don’t have to talk.”

The young man situated himself against the counter next to you. True to his word, he stayed silent, the sound of his breathing mingling with yours. The two of you stood there, neither wanting to move and break the moment that had formed around you.

Eventually the harsh buzz of the coffee machine cut through the air, and with a heavy sigh you started to move, finally drawing you hand from your eyes. But before you could get very far, Ray was already there, filling you up a mug and fixing it just the way you liked it. He handed it to you with a gentle smile, his fingertips brushing against yours.

“Thanks,” you mumbled into your drink, blowing softly to help cool it off.

“No problem,” was his reply as Ray situated himself next to you once more.

Taking a small sip from your cup, you let the drink’s soothing warmth wash over you. “I’m sorry for yelling,” you whispered to him, not wanting to shatter the bubble around the two of you. “It’s just been a really long day.”

Ray’s response was to nudge you softly with his shoulder, careful not to jostle you too much. “We all have bad days,” he told you, just as gently, “no need to apologize for it.”

“Still,” you tell him, “I shouldn't have taken it out on your guys. After all, you were just doing your jobs.”

“We should have backed off the first time said something. I mean, it was pretty obvious that you weren’t feeling up to it.”

You turned your head towards him, meeting his warm, brown eyes with your own. “Thanks for coming to check up on me,” you said, feeling a faint heat rise to your cheeks.

Ray’s soft smile made your stomach do a summersault. He was handsome, you were not afraid to admit that. But he was also one of the sweetest people you had ever met. Even amidst all of the chaos that was the Rooster Teeth office, Ray had always managed to be the calm eye of the storm you called your life. During your first few days of employment, he had been the first to make friends, even before Lindsey and the others had come along. He helped you to feel like you belonged in the close-knit family of your coworkers. In time you had known him, you had managed to fall for the Puerto Rican, and you fell hard. But you kept your distance, preferring to strengthen the friendship between the two of you rather than mess it up with unrequited romanticism.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied, his eyes locked with yours. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Still,” you insisted, “you didn’t have to. Thank you, Ray.”

He let out a low laugh around your name. “It’s the least I could do for you. I know how stressed out you can get when things aren’t going your way, and I wanted to help out. I hate seeing you that way.”

You took a sip of your coffee, smiling into the drink and trying to convince yourself that the red flooding Ray’s cheeks was a simple trick of the light. The two of you lapsed back into a comfortable silence, with you slowly downing your drink and Ray’s leg occasionally shifting against yours. Time seemed to slow around the two of you, and for the first time all day you felt like you could truly breathe.

As you stared unseeingly at the kitchen walls, you felt something brush against the side of the hand you had resting behind you on the counter. You kept your head straight, but a cautious glance out of the corner of your vision made your heart leap.

Ray was slowly, carefully, moving his hand over yours, just barely brushing against your skin. Watching his face closely, you turned your palm up and laced your fingers through his. Your sudden movement made him a jump, a small twitch in his shoulders, as he gazed down in wonderment at your joined hands. His eyes flickered up to meet yours and you gave him a slow, shy smile. The heat in your face surely rivaled the red glow beneath Ray’s skin.

“Hey, listen,” said Ray, tightening his grip around yours. “I checked with Lindsey, and she told me you had actually finished all your work for today like, two hours ago. Geoff already told me I could head out for the day, so, I was, uh, wondering if, maybe, if you didn’t y’know, already have plans...”

He stopped his rambling with a steadying breath.

“Did you maybe wanna spend the day with me? We could grab some lunch, maybe hit the movies or something. I mean it’s really up to you, I understand if you don’t wanna–”

This time you cut him but tugging him closer to you by your still joined hands, placing your empty mug onto the counter.

“You mean, like a date,” you asked him, faking bravado to hide the way your pulse was pounding in your ears.

“Yeah,” Ray stuttered out, eyes trained on yours, “a date.”

With a smile, you leaned in quickly to press a soft kiss against Ray’s cheek, feeling his stubble against your lips and marveling at the novelty of it all.  
“I’d love to.”

The two of you went out for lunch at your favorite restaurant, and Ray insisted he pay despite your arguments. You made up for it by providing the popcorn for a movie night at his place; the two of you snuggled up close on his couch, sharing a blanket and a bowl of snacks. You both ended up crashing there after a Netflix marathon, your head nuzzled into the crook of Ray’s neck.

When you awoke the next morning, you delighted in the knowledge that your hands were still joined.


End file.
